Regatta Hotel
| Regatta Hotel | |
|---|---|
View from Coronation Drive
|
|
| General information | |
| Type | Hotel |
| Architectural style | Queenslander |
| Address | 543 Coronation Drive, |
| Town or city | Toowong |
| Country | Australia |
| Cost | £4,800 |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Brick |
| Floor count | 4 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Richard Gailey |
| Main contractor | George Gazzard |
| Website | |
| www |
|
The Regatta Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel located on the corner of Coronation Drive and Sylvan Road in Brisbane, Australia. It is located in the suburb of Toowong and faces the Brisbane River. The three-storey hotel contained accommodation on the upper two floors and a public bar and lounge area on the ground floor. It was named after the rowing regattas which were once held along the nearby river.
A famous protest took place in the public bar in 1965, when two women, Merle Thornton (mother of Australian actress Sigrid Thornton) and Rosalie Bognor, chained themselves to the bar in protest at Queensland's restriction of public bars to men only. The protest was not successful despite other similar protests; it was years before the laws changed. In 2014 the hotel celebrated the protest with the naming of Merle's Bar.
The Heritage Bar on the ground floor features leather lounges and a large fireplace. The bars are frequented by staff and students of the University of Queensland.
The first hotel was established on the site in 1874, as a single-storey wooden building. It was first flooded in 1887, then again in 1893. The present Queenslander style building was designed by Richard Gailey and erected in 1886. It featured cast-iron lacings which still adorn the building today. The hotel was refurbished in 1981.
The Regatta Hotel is classified by the National Trust of Queensland and was entered in the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992. The Regatta Hotel has also been entered into the Register of the National Estate of Australian Heritage Commission.
The pub has been progressively renovated between 2001 and 2004. It was converted into several modern bars and nightclubs.
The Regatta Hotel was damaged during the 2010–2011 Queensland floods. $10 million was spent on renovations before an official reopening in September 2012.
...
Wikipedia